Was it a Dream?
by oncers4life
Summary: Somnium has been stuck in prison for months, being accused of a crime she didn't commit. She slowly looses hope and starts to wither away, until one night, she gets an unexpected visit from Rumpelstiltskin who helps her devise a plan and clear her name. The only problem is ... did she actually meet him? Or Was it all a Dream? Disclaimer: I don't own any OUAT characters.


Once Upon a Time, there was a beautiful girl locked up in a dungeon. Her name was Somnium, but everyone called her Minni. She was relatively small, with long blonde hair as fair as the moon, and a voice as soft as velvet. Somnium always wore her hair in a red bow while she did her house work. Some would say she was the prettiest maid in the land.

And that was what made her special. She was a maid, not a princess. People could love her like one of them, not royalty.

Somnium was framed for a crime she did not commit. The city thieves stole the blue-moon gem necklace from the king, and left one of her red headbands behind. For a reason she would never know, the thieves had a strong hate towards her, and knew exactly what they were doing when they left her famous red headband at the scene of the crime.

The guards immediately suspected Minni and rode over to arrest her. Sadly, this was Minni's wedding night. And as soon has her fiancé heard about her supposed 'crime' he called the wedding off and watched her be dragged to prison.

She cried and cried, and pleaded all she could, but no-one believed her. After all, she was just a maid.

Soon, her voice was hoarse and her hair turned black with dirt. Her wedding gown was torn apart from the constant begging and her shoes were turned to stubs.

For many months, Somnium was locked in the cell with no sight of another human being except for the guard that brought her slop. She slept on a pile of hay that she molded into a bed. The only sunlight she saw was from the small window (if you could even call it a window) that was above her 'bed'. It was about the size of a pie and only over-looked the town-center. But that was enough for her.

When she looked outside and saw all her old friends, it brought back happy memories and feelings that she so desperately longed for again. She knew she would never escape this cell. Why? Well because the king thought she had taken the necklace, he refused to let her out until she revealed its location.

Obviously, Somnium didn't have the necklace. And the thieves that took it were long gone by now.

Somnium sat by the 'window' and cried for many hours, until it turned dark.

That night, as she was crying in the corner, a strange shadow swept over the cell. She sat up, expecting to see the guard coming with food but instead saw someone else.

It was difficult to see in the dim lighting, but she fairly made out the shape of a man wearing bizarre clothing, standing at the foot of her cell.

"It's not polite to stare, you know", the strange man said.

Somnium almost jumped out of her skin. She only gave a little yelp. The Man's voice sounded like a bird being strangled. High pitched with a menacing tone and uneven wording.

"Oh no no, Dearie. You don't want to be doing that".

"W-who are you?" Somnuim managed to stutter.

"Why, I'm Rumpelstiltskin of course!", he laughed wildly.

Somnium sat upright and yelled, "Rumpelstiltskin? I've heard about you! All you bring is evil and destruction, wherever you go! Leave me alone!"

But Rumpelstiltskin did not move. Instead he began pacing the inside of the cell. Somnium gasped. Rumpelstiltskin dragged his finger across the wall and then looked at it. It was covered with grim. He gave it a disgusted look before wiping it on his pants.

"Quit a dingy place you got here, if you ask me. Why don't we… make it a little more interesting? Hmm?".

All of a sudden, the walls changed to pink. The floor Somnium was sitting on was no longer hard and cold, but instead fuzzy and warm. She looked down to see it had transformed into a marvelous pink carpet. She was utterly amazed.

"Now let's do something about that outfit".

Just like that, her old and tattered clothes were transformed into a beautiful green gown with gold beads trailing around her neck. She walked over to look in the mirror and heard the 'clickidy-clack' of a new pair of shoes on her feet. When she finally reached the mirror, she saw that her hair was brilliantly styled and there was a tiara sitting atop her head. Somnium was in awe.

"Now, this all must be very spectacular for you," Rumpelstiltskin said, cutting into her thoughts "But I _did_ come here to tell you something very important."

Somnium instinctively turned around to face him. Still behaving like that house-maid she was.

"I know why you're in here, Dearie. They think you've done something that you haven't, and your only way out, is to retrieve the blue-moon gem necklace which is, very important, I'm told." He said with that same manacle laugh.

Rumpelstiltskin proceeded to sit in the throne-shaped, feather chair that sat in the far corner of what was now her cell.

"Those thieves that took it are still in town. They live an abandoned sew-shop down the road. If you get there, the necklace is in a red chest in the upstairs bedroom"

Somnium cut him off, "But wait, how am I supposed to get there? The guards would never let me leave."

Rumpelstiltskin stood up and slowly made his way over to her, "Mmmm, poor little Somnium. You were never too bright, were you?". He was standing a few feet in front of her, examining a diamond hair brush that lay on the dresser to her left.

"Somnium means 'Dream' you know?" he laughed hysterically, "How funny that is, Dearie"

Rumpelstiltskin turned his attention back to her and finally answered her question.

"Tell them you know where it is. Tell them you're sick of being locked up and you're ready to return the necklace. Then, once the precious necklace is back in old kingy's hands… you're free to go", he said with a flick of his wrist.

Somnium thought about this for a minute. _"Could a plan this crazy actually work? Why should I trust the word of Rumpelstiltskin?"_. Then a though hit her.

"Why are you doing all this for me?" she asked hoarsely.

Rumpelstiltskin's expression immediately changed from devilishly smart to dead serious. He moved even closer to Somnium. His nose was pressed against her cheek as she turned her face, and his hot breath stung against her ear as he whispered, "Actually, I'm not". Somnium blinked twice and gave him a dumb-found look.

She was about to say something when all of a sudden, a cold burst of water slapped her face and brought her back into reality. She sat up and wiped the water out of her eyes and looked up at the guard standing at the gate.

"Time to wake up, prisoner" the guard spat as he walked away with his now empty bucket.

Somnium looked around at her cell. All fantasies were gone. The walls were back to gray, the floor was back to dirt, her bed was back to hay, and her clothes were back to a tattered mess. She put a hand up to her head and disappointedly found that the tiara was gone. All traces of her visit with Rumpelstiltskin were too.

She glumly stood up and shuffled over to the mirror. By the sound of her feet on the ground, she didn't have to look down to know that the shoes were also gone.

A million thoughts ran through Somnium's head as she walked across the room. "_Did any of that really happen? Was I dreaming the entire time? Can I really risk my life and try the plan that Rumpelstiltskin told me even when I'm not sure if our encounter ever really happened?" _

She took a glance in the mirror and became absolutely certain that the entire thing was just a dream and she never actually met Rumpelstiltskin. Somnium did her best to wipe the mud off her face and pull the hay out of her hair.

As she was about to walk away, something that was tucked behind the mirror glistened in the light and caught her eye. She slowly reached her hand out and grabbed the mysterious object. It was a piece of golden straw.

_"__How strange" _she thought.

Somnium turned the straw over in her hand and noticed a small message was engraved on the back.

"Only _you_ can make your dreams a reality"

It was just then she knew that her encounter had not been made-up. It _really_ happened. Whether in a dream or in the night, Rumpelstiltskin had managed to help her. Somnium was not ill-minded. She knew all magic came with a price. She would have to pay Rumpelstiltskin back one day. She didn't know when, or with what, but she was certain that he would come for her one day.

Clutching the straw tightly in her hand she ran over to the bars of her cell,

"Hey guard!" she yelled "I'm ready to give back the necklace!".


End file.
